About Born and Bred

Step back in time to 1950s Lancashire and the fictional village of Ormston where Dr Arthur Gilder and his son Tom run the local cottage hospital. It’s a world of change with the newly formed Nation Health Service impacting on how the two doctors do things. Read on, to find out more about the series...

James Bolam and Michael French

Changing times

Playing father and son are James Bolam and Michael French, with Jenna Russell as Dr Tom’s wife and Parish Council Chairman Deborah Gilder and Polly Thompson as Arthur’s wife Catherine.

In later series Bolam and French’s characters were replaced by those played by One Foot in the Grave’s Richard Wilson and by Oliver Milburn.

Star spotting

Other cast members included Tracey Childs (famous for playing Lynne Howard in Howards’ Way) as Nurse Linda Cosgrove and Clive Swift (long-suffering Richard Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances) as the Reverend Eustacius Brewer.

See Also

Born and Bred was created by Chris Chibnall and Nigel McCreery. Chibnall has since written for Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood and created and wrote the 2013 ITV hit Broadchurch (staring Tenth Doctor David Tennant). McCreery went on to create BBC big hitters Silent Witness and New Tricks (also starring James Bolam).

Location, location

Doubling up for Ormston was the Lancashire village of Downham near Clitheroe, with some scenes shot at Helmshore. Downham is privately owned by Lord and Lady Clitheroe with every house rented by them. The contracts for each property forbid the adding of satellite dishes and TV aerials, making it ideal for use as a period location.

The village was also used in the recent adaptation of James Herbert's spooky The Secret of Crickley Hall starring Tom Ellis and Suranne Jones.

TV Times

Born and Bred ran for four series and one Christmas special from 2002 to 2005.